Bag tube and method for producing a deformable receptacle

ABSTRACT

A plastic reinforcement engaging the end wall of a bag tube includes an outlet surrounded by an outwardly extending flange which has the same curvature as the end wall and extends. This construction stiffens the end wall and reduces the risk of the tube tipping over which it is rested upside down on its cap.

The invention relates to a bag tube with a foil material which forms anend-face wall and two lateral walls of the tube, wherein the lateralwalls are connected to one another along two lateral edge sections, andwith a shoulder piece which comprises a closable outlet connection pieceand a flange which is fastened to the end-face wall and which is curvedlike the end-face wall.

BACKGROUND

It is often desirable to place upright such a bag tube with a closurecap closing the opening of the shoulder piece directed downwards. Withthis there exists the danger that the tube falls over, because the foilmaterial deforms under the weight of the contents of the tube. Thedanger in particular exists when the foil material—in a likewisedesirable manner—is formed thin, light and flexible.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

An object of the invention lies in forming a bag tube of the previouslymentioned type such that the previously outlined danger of falling overwhen the tube as indicated is placed on the head is reduced.

According to the invention the object is achieved in that the flangeproceeding from the outlet connection piece outwardly extends along theend-face wall up to a middle region of each lateral wall and extendsalong the end-face wall in the direction of the two edge sections of thelateral walls.

Preferably there may be provided two tabs which proceed from the flangeand bear on the middle region of the lateral walls. These offeradditionally a protection of the foil material against twisting ordamage when the tube is grasped in the region of the end-face wall forscrewing off or screwing on. In order to ensure a residual emptying ofthe tube these tabs advantageously are to be formed flexibly.

The invention also relates to a method for manufacturing a deformablecontainer which is envisaged for accommodating a pasty product,specifically to a method according to the preamble of patent claim 7.

For packaging pasty products such as mustard, mayonnaise, toothpaste aswell as cream-like cosmetic and medical products above all aluminium,laminate and plastic tubes are used.

Known aluminium tubes are generally cylindrical and have at one end-faceend a conical end-face with an outlet connection piece which can beclosed with a screw top. The method for manufacturing aluminium tubes iswork intensive and cost intensive. Thus aluminium tubes arepremanufactured with the impact extrusion method from an aluminiumcircular blank on a first varnishing machine are varnished on the innerside, by way of a pressure machine are pressed to the outside and on asecond varnishing machine are varnished over on the outside. By way of afurther device then the closure top is screwed onto the premanufacturedtubes.

With the manufacture of such known tubes the ends of the tubes, whichface the closure top, are left open. On filling the tubes the pastyproduct is filled in through this open end, whereupon the tube is thencompletely closed.

Since the tubes and the pasty products to be filled are usuallymanufactured in different manufacturing plants, the premanufacturedempty tubes must be packaged and transported from the tube manufacturerto the product manufacturer, where they are then filled with thecorresponding product and closed. At the tube manufacturer as well asalso at the product manufacturer storage rooms are therefore requiredfor the intermediate storage of the empty tubes ready for filling. Theintermediate storage as well as also the transport from the tubemanufacturer to the filling plant of the product manufacturer isconsiderably disadvantageous for the economics of the tube manufacture.Added to this is the fact that on storage and transporting the emptytubes which are opened at the end-face, contaminations may not be beprevented from getting into the empty tubes, which then in many casesrenders necessary the prior provision of additional cleaning andsterilisation procedures in the production operation of the productmanufacturer.

In a very similar manner the already known plastic tubes aremanufactured. With this tubing blanks are manufactured which insubsequent machines are printed, varnished and subsequently providedwith a closure body. These tubes too are open likewise on one side andare intermediately stored at the tube manufacturer as well as also atthe product manufacturer.

From the European Patent specification 0'041'924 there is known aflexible container which can be manufactured and filled in a continousmethod, thus may be completed ready for sale at only one plant. Thisknown tube-like container comprise a tube body which is manufacturedfrom a one-piece foil and which on its folded end-face side is providedwith an outlet and has two walls which have an essentially rectangularoutline, are welded to one another at three sides and are located onvarious sides of a plane of symmetry running through the tubelongitudinal axis.

With a method which has the the manufacture of the container as well asalso the filling procedure as the subject-matter, in particular thefilling of the containers determines the cycle for the whole production.The containers must be manufactured as quickly as the product may befilled. Thus the method steps welding, cutting to shape, welding-on ofthe outlet connection piece and placing on the closure top, must beeffected in the same cycle number as the filling of the premanufacturedcontainers. Difficulties in maintaining the method parameters or delaysin the cycle frequency then occur when the outlet connection piece forreasons of manufacturing technology may only be welded from one side asroughly is the case with the method known from from EPB 0 041 924. Thusin this method the outlet connection piece from the inner side is placedinto an opening of the premanufactured tube body and is welded to thefoil from the outer side. This welding procedure with this delays thefilling output and has the result that the manufacturing and fillingcapacity is reduced.

The invention also deals with the further object of providing a newmethod for manufacturing a deformable container which not only makespossible the manufacture of the container but also the simultaneousfilling from continuously prepared containers and which does not havethe disadvantages of the previously described manufacturing methods.

Proceeding from the European Patent document 0'041'924 this object isachieved by the features of patent claim 7.

The invention further relates to a new-type, deformable container,manufacturable according to the method of claim 7, specifically acontainer with the features of claim 14.

Advantageous embodiment forms of the method and of the container are thesubject-matter of the dependent claims 8 to 13 or 15 and 16.

The new-type method according to the invention is essentiallycharacterised by the fact that in only one working process fromhigh-quality foil material a container is formed, filled with a pastyproduct, closed and subsequently packaged.

The method according to the invention has big advantages. It isinexpensive, simple in logistics and product preparation as well able tobe used in every filling plant without giving it a second thought. Themanufacturing costs are furthermore also relatively small since thecontainers are formed in simple steps and as such do not need to bepremanufactured and intermediately stored. The containers may thus bedirectly manufactured in the plant of the product manufacturer or at payfillers.

The containers which may be manufactured by the method according to theinvention consists of a flexible one-layered foil material but also of alikewise flexible multi-layered compound material of plastic, aluminiumand/or paper. Thus for example it may be the case of a three-layered,foil-like compound material consisting of polyester, aluminium andpolypropylene or polyester, aluminium and polyethylene, wherein then thepolyester forms the outer layer, the aluminium the middle layer and thepolypropylene or the polyethylene the inner layer of the container.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The subject-matter of the invention is now described in more detail byway of embodiment examples shown in the drawings. In the drawings thereare shown:

FIG. 1 a plan view of the wide side of a deformable container with anapplied closure body,

FIG. 2 a plan view of the end on the outlet side of the container in thearrow direction II of FIG. 1,

FIG. 3 a plan view of a foil blank consisting of foil parts lying overone another,

FIG. 4 an enlarged view of the blank IV of FIG. 3,

FIG. 5 a section through the closure top shown in FIG. 1, in an enlargedscale,

FIG. 6 a section through the outlet connection piece envisaged forreceiving the closure top,

FIG. 7 a section through the closure body formed of the closure top andthe outlet connection piece,

FIG. 8 a section along the line VIII of FIG. 3 with a fasteningconnection piece which is introduced in the longidinal direction andenvisaged for receiving the closure body,

FIG. 9 the connection pieces of FIG. 8 in the applied condition,

FIG. 10 a section through the closure of the container shown in FIG. 1,which is formed by the closure body and the fastening connection piece,

FIG. 11 a lateral view of a bag tube,

FIG. 12 a section according to line 12—12 in FIG. 11,

FIG. 13 in an enlarged scale a plan view of the bag tube of FIGS. 11 and12,

FIG. 14 a shoulder piece of the bag tube in the section according toline 14—14 in FIG. 13 and

FIG. 15 the shoulder piece in a section according to line 15—15 in FIG.13.

SUMMARY OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT(S)

The deformable container which is shown in the FIGS. 1 and 2 and isindicated in its entirety at 1 comprises a tubing body 2 with anend-face side 3 which for its part is provided with an outletopening—yet to be described in more detail—which can be closed by aclosure body 4.

The tubing body 2 for its part has two walls 5 and 6 which have anessentially rectangular outline, are located on various sides of a plane8 running through the longitudinal axis 7 and with respect to this plane8 are mirror-symmetrical to one another. The two walls 5 and 6, on sidesdistant to one another, in each case comprise a strip-shaped edgesection 5 a and 6 a and at their end distant to the outlet in each casea likewise strip-shaped transverse section (of which only the section 5b of the wall 5 is drawn visible). The edge sections of the two walls 5and 6 bear on one another in pairs and are welded to one another. Aswill yet be explained in more detail, the two walls 5 and 6 togetherwith a middle section 9 connecting them consist of a one-piece,foil-like compound material consisting of three layers of polyester,aluminium and polypropylene connected to one another.

The end-face side 3 of the tubing body 2, which comprises the outletopening is formed essentially by the mentioned middle section 9. On thisthere is arranged an outlet connection piece of plastic which will yetbe described in more detail which as part of the closure body 4 amongstother things for the protection of the end-face edges 9 a is providedwith protective tabs 10 covering the walls 5 and 6 and for reinforcingthe end-face side 3 is provided with lateral shoulder supports 11.

In the outline projected parallel to the axis 7, shown in FIG. 2, themiddle section 9 has essentially the shape of a convex lens, wherein theacute angled edges of the lateral edges 5 a, 6 a running out in theend-face region 3 project in a winged-manner over the outlet opening 12of the container, which is shown in FIG. 3 and provided in the middlesection 9. In the view shown in FIG. 1 thus the middle section isindented and adheres on both sides of the symmetry plane 8 via theend-face edge 9 a to in each case one of the two walls 5 and 6. In theregions of the edges 5 a and 6 a the two end-face edges 9 a unite to asingle folding edge lying in the plane of symmetry 8.

For manufacturing the container represented in FIGS. 1 and 2 in a firstmethod step a foil or compound material subject, whose width is doublethe length of the tubing body 2, is drawn over a wedge and is foldedalong the subject longitudinal axis into two equal halves, from whichthen the two walls 5 and 6 of the tubing body 2 are formed. The foil orcompound material subject may with this for example be wound off from atape roller, wherein then as will yet be explained only in an alreadyadvanced method phase is the premanufactured tubing body separated fromthe tape material or from the foil or compound material subject.

In a second method step the folded foil or compound material subject,preferably wound off from a tape roller, is divided into foil sectionsenvisaged for the manufacture of individual containers. For this thesubject tape by way of a transport device is transported further insteps by in each case one width of the tubing body 2 to be formed, thelongidutinal edge of the double-layered subject, which is formed by thefold, is begun to be cut in constant distances transversely to thetransport direction and between in each case two such incisions in eachcase an outlet opening 12 is punched out. Subsequently the end-facecorners of the containers to be manufactured, which are formed by theincisions, are folded over inwardly, the two halves of the foil sectionprepared by the cutting beginning, which bear on one another, are weldedtransversely to the longitudinal direction and the thus formed tubingbody 2 is separated from the remaining part of the tape by way of acutting tool so that a foil blank of the shape represented in FIG. 3arises.

The folding of the two end-face corners about the angle α (FIG. 4) whichis 5° to 90°, for example 45° not only results in a strengthening of theedges of the container in this region. By way of the formation of thefolds furthermore sharp-edged corners are avoided, which may injure theuser given a negligent handling or may damage the carrier bags servingto accommodate the container 1.

In a further method step, which for example runs parallel to thepreviously described second method step, the closure body 4 shown inFIG. 7 is prepared. This in the case present here consists of thealready above mentioned outlet connection piece 14 (FIG. 6) and of aclosure top (FIG. 5), wherein the latter with its inner thread 16 isscrewed onto the threaded part 13 of the outlet connection piece 14. Asone may particularly see from FIG. 6 the outlet connection piece 14 isstill provided with the already previously mentioned protective tabs 10and shoulder supports 11 and is dimensioned and closable with theclosure top having a plane end-face surface such that the container tobe manufactured has a sufficiently high standing stability and may beplaced upright as a standing container.

Subsequent to the above method steps a fastening connection piece 17 inthe direction of the arrow is led through the blank of the tubing body2, which is shown in FIG. 8 and is already opened out and is welded,adhesive and/or pressed on the end-face side end of the tubing body,thus on the middle section 9, for which the fastening connection piece17 in particular is provided with an annular collar 18 which with themiddle section 9 assumes the desired connection. As one can recognisefrom FIG. 9 the neck 19 of the fastening connection piece 17, which isenvisaged for receiving the closure body 4, in the fastened condition,penetrates the outlet opening 12 of the tubing body blank and projectsout of this. For the optimal connection of the fastening connectionpiece 17 and middle section 9 the collar 18 may yet additionally beprovided with annularly arranged ribs 20 tapering to a point.

After pressing the closure body 4 on the fastening connection piece 17by way of which in particular the foil piece forming the middle section9 is tensioned in between the fastening connection piece 17 and theoutlet connection piece 14, the pasty product is filled into the tubingbody 2 through the opening of the mentioned blank, which lies oppositethe end-face side 3 and which in the course of production preferablyfaces upwards. Subsequently the still remaining opening of the tubingbody 2 is closed and welded, and the thus manufactured and filledcontainer is directly led further to a package belt envisaged for theend packaging.

For removing the product from the container 1 according to the inventionthe closure top 15 is removed and then the tubing body 2 is pressedtogether beginning from the wide-side end. The material forming thetubing body 2 is preferably deformable in an elastic and in particularplastic manner such that this after pressing out a part of the productit essentially retains its pressed-together shape by way of theso-called “restoring effect” and does not aspirate any air through theoutlet connection piece 14.

Concluding it is yet to be noted that the containers which can bemanufactured by the above mentioned method may be formed in differentways and therefore may differ from the drawn embodiment example. Thusthe container instead of a rectangular outline shape may also have adifferent outline shape. Also the dimensions and proportions of thecontainers may vary within large limits. Finally yet also the closuretop may be formed in different ways and for example have the shape of aball or of a polyhedron.

The bag tube shown in the FIGS. 11 to 13 has two lateral walls 111 and112 and an end-face wall 113 which are all formed by one piece of foilmaterial. The foil material is preferably thin, light and flexible. Itmay be a simple plastic foil or also a laminate. At least the side ofthe foil material, which faces the inside of the tube, may consist ofweldable plastic. The two lateral walls 111 and 112 are sealinglyconnected to one another, in particular welded, along two lateral edgesections 114 and 115 and along an end edge section 116.

On the end-face wall 113 there is fastened a shoulder piece which has aclosable opening in the form of an outlet connection piece 117. Theshoulder piece consists preferably of a weldable plastic. From theoutlet connection piece 117 there proceeds a flange 118 which is curvedjust as the end-face wall 113. The flange 118 bears on the inside on theend-face wall 113 and is sealingly fastened thereto, preferably rigidlywelded.

The flange 118 extends, proceeding from the outlet connection piece 117,up to in each case a middle region of each lateral wall 111, 112, to theoutside. This middle region of each lateral wall has, as shown in FIG.13, a width c which is at least equal to 20%, preferably at least 30% ofthe whole width d of each lateral wall 111, 112 between the lateral edgesections 114 and 115. The flange 118 which extends outwards along theend-face wall 113 up to the upper ends of the lateral walls 111 and 112serves the stiffening of the end-face wall 113 and by way of this thereduction of the danger that the tube may fall over when it is placeddirected downwards with a closure cap (not shown) screwed onto theoutlet connection piece 117.

For the same purpose the flange 118 comprises two supports 119, 120which are fastened to the end-face wall which extend in the directiontowards the two lateral edge sections 114 and 115 of the lateral walls111, 112. The two supports 119 and 120 extend preferably until adistance a (FIG. 13) towards the lateral edge sections 114 or 115, whichat the most is equal to 20%, preferably at the most 10% of the distanceb between the lateral edge sections measured at the end-face wall 113.

The flange 118 may however also at the edges of the end-face wall 113comprise two tabs 121 and 122 which are bent at right angles and runparallel to the lateral walls 111 and 112. The tabs 121 and 122 stiffenthe middle regions of the lateral walls 111 and 112, which neighbour theend-face wall. At the same time they protect the foil material againsttwisting and/or damage when the tube for screwing a closure cap (notshown) off of the outlet connection piece 117 is held by a hand in thementioned regions of the lateral walls. On the other hand the tabs 121and 122 in order not to hinder the complete pressing out of the tube,are preferably more flexible than the remaining parts of the flange 118.For example the tabs 121, 122 have a smaller wall thickness than theremaining parts of the flange 118.

What is claimed is:
 1. In a bag tube comprising a foil material whichforms an end-face wall and two lateral walls the tube, wherein thelateral walls are connected to one another along two lateral edgesections and a shoulder piece comprising a closable outlet connectionpiece and a flange which is fastened on the end-face wall and is curvedcorresponding to the form of the end-face wall, the improvementcomprising a flange extending from the outlet connection piece outwardlyalong the end-face wall to a middle region of each said lateral wall. 2.A bag tube according to claim 1, wherein said middle region of eachlateral wall has a width which is at least equal to 20% of the wholewidth of the lateral wall between the lateral edge sections.
 3. A bagtube according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the flange comprises at leasttwo protruding tabs bearing on the foil material, for reinforcing thefoil material.
 4. A bag tube according to claim 1, wherein the flangeextends to the lateral edge sections up to a distance from thesesections, which at the most is equal to 20% of the distance between thelateral edge sections measured at the end-face wall.
 5. A bag tubeaccording to claim 3, wherein the flange comprises two tabs bearing onthe middle regions of the lateral walls.
 6. A bag tube according toclaim 5, wherein the tabs bearing on the lateral walls are more flexiblethan the remaining parts of the flange.
 7. A bag tube according to claim1, wherein the flange extends to the lateral edge sections up to adistance from these sections, which at the most is equal to 10% of thedistance between the lateral edge sections measured at the end-facewall.
 8. A bag tube according to claim 1, wherein said flange extendsalong the end-face wall toward the lateral edge sections of the lateralwalls.